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Approved Minutes, July 15, 2010
Meeting Minutes
Thursday, July 15th, 2010
6:30 pm
120 Washington St.
Salem, Ma

In Attendance:  Adam Segal, Rick Nye, Nick Lewis, Cindy Keegan (Chair), Jeff Brandt, John Hayes, Jenna Ide, Jeff Barz-Snell
Members not in attendance: Rob DeRosier (V. Chair)
City Staff: Paul Marquis (Salem Energy Manager & RETF/ City Liaison)
Public: Pat Gozemba (Salem Alliance For the Environment (SAFE)), Marilyn Humphries, Alejandro Alvarez

  • March, April, May and June meeting minutes approved w/ minor changes
  • Chair Cindy Keegan suggested that since there were some new members on the Task Force who were expected to jump right into the group’s business, it might be a good idea to take a step back to both review the core mission of the Task Force and to give those new members a chance to air their views on the mission. She also suggested that the majority of the meeting might be devoted to establishing some goals and directions for the coming months. The discussion began with a reading of the Mission Statement.
  • Jenna Ide expressed the idea that the Task Force could perhaps do more to raise awareness among the general public regarding renewable energy, particularly with respect to wind and solar, which perhaps represent the most accessible technologies to a wide constituency
  • It was agreed that RETF could make better use of public media like the local newspapers and Salem Access TV
  • Nick Lewis suggested that the RETF could do a better job in getting the message out regarding the connections between activities of the Task Force and measures that its constituents might undertake with greenhouse gas emissions.   
  • Several members agreed that it might be useful to track the major accomplishments of the Task Force to date. Paul Marquis noted that the RETF might take a cue from SalemRecycles, which does a very good job of inventorying its accomplishments and posting them to their website, and also in getting the word out regarding their activities and promoting volunteerism.
  • The Task Force discussed potential goals for the coming months.
  • Nick Lewis suggested focusing some effort on offshore wind power development and briefed members on the recent formation of North Shore Wind, a nascent non-profit devoted to promoting this endeavor. He noted that a regional approach to offshore wind might be the best approach and that there was initially some discussion regarding first reaching out to communities in the South Essex Sewerage District. Jeff Brandt agreed that a regional approach might be best.
  • Rick Nye suggested that it might be more productive to focus the RETF’s energies on getting the proposed Winter Island wind facility off the ground first.
  • Jenna Ide noted that public education regarding wind was an important goal for the RETF in light of the proposed Winter Island project, especially since there has been a fair amount of negative press regarding wind facilities and that this criticism does not reasonably address its impact relative to power generation alternatives like the Dominion coal-fired plant
  • The Winter Island discussion led to a more general discussion regarding the possibility of developing a municipal power authority in Salem. Cindy Keegan noted that a model like that of Cape Light Compact might be adopted. She suggested that Sam Cleaves of Gloucester, MA and the MAPC might be contacted regarding this, as Gloucester is currently examining the possibility of a municipal power authority. In the context of the recently launched Dominion power plant re-use study, Pat Gozemba suggested that new paradigms of ownership of power might be examined, such as community ownership.  Paul Marquis noted that the City might adopt a model being developed in Concord, MA, where a municipal authority already exists, whereby the municipality leases homeowner’s rooftops for photovoltaic installations, and sells the electricity generated to the homeowner via a power purchase agreement. Mr. Marquis also noted that the City was already examining the possibility of wholesale power purchasing for municipal facilities, and suggested that this, combined with the promotion of community choice aggregation, might be important first steps toward development of a municipal power authority.
  • John Hayes suggested that a good way to establish priorities and establish goals for the coming months might be to survey Salem residents regarding their knowledge of energy and climate change issues, and their view of important energy issues that need to be addressed. He suggested including a survey w/ property tax bills, though some noted that this would only reach property owners, and that it might be better to use electronic media like survey monkey. Jenna Ide described localocracy.com as a useful tool for getting the word out and mobilizing a community. Paul Marquis suggested that perhaps local students could be mobilized for cold-canvassing to improve survey response rates. John Hayes also suggested that this could be a good first step toward the important goal of developing a City-wide Climate Action Plan.
  • Jeff Barz-Snell echoed this view and suggested that a Climate Action Plan was a good goal for the RETF in the near term. The Task Force agreed that a Climate Plan was a worthy project/ goal. Paul Marquis suggested that it should not be limited to climate, but should be a general sustainability plan that included things like environmental purchasing policy, etc. John Hayes said that he will develop a list of existing good climate action plans for the Task Force to review. He is aware of several excellent Climate Action Plans on the web and believes that it will be a good place to start.
  • Jeff Barz-Snell pointed to the EnerNoc company as a leader in enterprise-level carbon emission reductions, and myemissionscredits.com as a useful model for carbon reductions in the private residential sector.
  • The Task Force unanimously approved the purchase of a data-logging weather station from the Clean Energy Choice grant fund for wind data gathering and energy education.
  • The Task Force members agreed that they should support the development of a unified website for the City’s green initiatives, a project already begun by SalemRecycles. It was also agreed that this and/or the Task Force’s web page should highlight recent developments on the Green Communities front.
  • The members agreed that it should also develop a report to City Council detailing recent accomplishments, and that this information should be shared with local media, such as the Salem News and the Salem Gazette.
  • Members discussed recruitment channels for volunteers for the upcoming home weatherization program to be funded under the Green Communities Grant. Organizations discussed included the Boy Scouts, Habitat for Humanity, Salem High School, North Shore Community College, Salem State University, and the MA Division of Employment and Training Career Center.
Meeting Minutes recorded by Paul Marquis & Cindy Keegan
Meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm